


Bright Eyes Of A Long Lost Past

by me_meron_pan



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Childhood Memories, Childhood Trauma, Memories, Multi, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:28:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24242839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/me_meron_pan/pseuds/me_meron_pan
Summary: What lies hidden behind those eyes of a soldier?What secrets did the eyes of the heir to a dying world see?Who really is behind those eyes of a smiling flower peddler?Children see the world in a different light after all and what's in the past should probably stay there...
Kudos: 9





	Bright Eyes Of A Long Lost Past

**Author's Note:**

> I AM FINALLY WRITING AGAIN  
> This is a small collection of short stories from childhood days!   
> What was in the past though, should probably stay in the past.  
> Chapters of more memories are to follow soon! é v é)/

He had always been that weird kid. 

That strange boy nobody liked talking to.

They wouldn’t ever think about playing with him. 

He was silent most of the time and when he spoke, he was incredibly rude. There was no use trying to be kind or nice with him, he’d just stare you down with those empty eyes of his. His arms were crooked from that time an angry father had broken them both over something he’d blame himself forever. His knuckles - a mess of scars from that time he single-handedly chased out the guy who dared to lay a hand on his mother at the mere age of twelve. Messed that guy up real good and probably scared his own mother for life. 

He’d spend most of his time on his own, lounging around in the tall grass as he tried to make the world around him go away. Eyes either closed or fixed on the sky. Tall grass tickling his face and sides, swaying in the soft breeze of a warm spring day. 

He didn’t like people, stayed away from others most of the time and sometimes, on those rare moments of self-awareness - he thought… Maybe he was the problem and not the others. Maybe he’d be less alone if he tried to be nicer. Tried to reach out.    
But he didn’t want that… Or did he?

Sometimes he wondered, was he really that bad of a person?

He was awkward, shy and covered all this unease and uncertainty inside of him with his cold exterior.    
He wasn’t that harsh underneath that hard shell. 

Or so he thought. 

He liked feeding the chocobos and strolling through the empty streets on early mornings. Dozing off in the shade of tall trees on hot summer days and jumping into the ice cold lake with his clothes still on.   
Bad people didn’t do things like that, did they? 

Then again, what did a thirteen year old know about life and such…   
He loved the early mornings because they made him feel like he was the only person in the world. There was no one to give him weird looks, no one to scream or yell at him, tell him to get lost. He knew it made his mother worry when she noticed him gone in the morning because both of them knew, eventually the day would come when he wouldn’t return back home. When he’d set out for something new, probably ten times more dangerous than any of the things he had done before. 

And he had done many of those. Some were more stupid than plain dangerous, some were an equal mix of both, like that one time he decided to try fight off that Malboro in the forest, ending up with a twisted ankle, some bruises and a rotten stench clinging onto him for weeks. 

He had learned his lesson on that. 

His mother was rarely mad at him, mostly worried and while she never yelled, she did not spare him a good lecture while washing his hair over and over again as she made him soak in that wooden tub in their backyard. There was no way she’d let him inside smelling like that.

It was the first time she had tied his hair up back then.

_ ‘’It’s gotten really long..’’ _ he remembered her chuckle, feeling the goosebumps growing as he remembered her brushing through his hair with her fingers. _ ‘’Do you want me to cut it?’’ _

Her words lingered in his ears as he looked at himself in the mirror this morning, tying them up again in that small ponytail he had been wearing for a few years now. He liked how it looked. Liked how the other kids couldn’t go around calling his hair ‘chocobo-butt looking’ anymore. 

  
It was one of those mornings. 

Cold as the sun would slowly rise from behind the mountains. Endless fields of grass kissed by morning dew as the fog hung low, clinging to the ground.

He made his round as usual, circling the town square, kicking stones and empty cans to scare away cats.    
He didn’t like them. 

They didn’t like him.   
Never had. Probably never would.

He was more of a dog person after all.

His first stop was Tifa’s house, looking at the window on the second floor with its curtains still closed.    
Good. It would be a calm morning.    
The next stop of his round was the stables on the edge of their small town. He could hear the birds from afar, slowly waking up as the sun rose. He ran the tip of the stick he had picked up along the way, against the ridges of the wooden fence he passed. Gaining the birds’ attention. One came warbling his way immediately, recognizing the sound instantly. The others following shortly. 

A quick jump across the fence and he’d be flocked by them, eagerly greeting him with more soft warbles and coos as they brushed their faces against him. And surprisingly, it even drove a small chuckle out of him.

_ ‘’Good morning to you too…’’ _

He’d spend the rest of the morning strolling around, playing with whatever he found. Stones, sticks, catching frogs until he came to a halt among tall strands of wet grass.    
His eyes fixed on the building looming atop of the hill. Long abandoned, slowly decaying on its own. 

There were numerous rumors about that mansion. 

Adults warned to never go there, kids talked about the dangers waiting inside. 

It was a test of bravery among them to sneak past those walls and explore but none of them ever got past the garden, too afraid of those rumored creatures living inside. 

He called it nonsense.    
Bullshit.    
Didn’t believe and yet, something about this building had always discouraged him. 

_ ‘’Not today…’’ _

There was a hole on the right back of the brick wall that enclosed the barren building. Big enough to let him slip through with ease. The garden was overgrown, remnants of what once was there lingering in the green thickets. 

There was a small gazebo, once painted white, the paint peeling off now here and there. There once was a statue sitting in the middle of what looked like a small flower garden. He couldn’t make out what it was supposed to look like though....

He poked into the thicket here and there, exploring what else was to find before he’d set his mind on getting inside. 

As expected, the doors were locked and for a moment he considered to just turn around and leave.    
He wiped his hand on the hem of his pants that were still wet from running through the dew kissed field as he looked for another way inside.    
Should he just smash a window?   
No, too loud. It would probably attract some attention. 

Eventually, however, he did find a broken window in the back and with enough peeling and poking around, he could reach the handle on the other side, letting himself in. 

It was like he was greeted by a cold gust of wind as he dropped to the ground with a low thud. 

The air was dusty and smelled of wet wood. Old and moldy, more decay spreading in front of his eyes as he let them wander through the room.    
It seemed to be a small living room or a library of some sort with tall shelves filled with old books. Lining the walls. There was an old fireplace, sitting and waiting to be lit again. 

He could feel his heart beating like crazy, spiking at every sound or creak. He wasn’t particularly afraid but he could feel that he wasn’t welcome in those halls. 

He took another brave step further into the dimly lit room, feeling the goosebumps creeping up his skinny legs. All the way up his pale thighs. Could feel them slowly spreading across his whole body.    
People had been right about that atmosphere in the end… 

But a little fear wouldn’t stop the blonde in his tracks. He shook it off with ease, channeling his most unbothered face as he forced his legs back into motion.    
With his trusty stick still in hand, he went through the rubble that had gathered throughout the years, foraging for treasures just waiting to be found. He did find some fancy cups and cutlery, smashed plates and old papers which he couldn’t read because time had taken its toll on them. 

He almost had gotten bored of that dusty place, ready to turn and leave. Putting a checkmark on this place, never to return and waste another thought on it.    
That was until he heard a crack. And then another. Followed by a low growl that slowly grew louder. A tall body emerging from the rubble, sprouting two heads. Its body was contorted, seemingly twisted in pain as it cried out, reaching one of its claws for the boy who froze in his tracks. Its skin seemed leathery dry and yet rusted like some old metal pipe. The stench it carried was insufferable. A loud shriek from one of its two mouths set him back in motion, readying his stick to fight back. Another deafening cry of the beast luckily triggered his flight instinct. 

The creature didn’t seem to be particularly fast but there was no use taking the risk to slow down and take a look behind himself as he bolted down a hallway. He could only hope the door at the end of it wasn’t locked. 

His heart stopped for a moment as he braced for an impact, shielding his face with his arms as he used full force to break the wood in front of him down. Cloud almost took a tumble, quickly recovering as he saw Lady Luck had been in his favor after all…    
She even seemed to have heard his pleading cries for a hole in the ground to swallow him up. He heard the wood crack, could see it open up underneath him before he could even cry out.    
It was a strange feeling. Falling just like that. Light as a feather and yet heavy as a stone. All breath that was left in his struggling lungs was forced out as his body was met with something hard. A cloud of dust and splinters swirling around him. The impact had him cry out softly as he felt a sharp pain in one of his ankles. 

A muttered  _ ‘’Shit…’’ _ managed to escape his lips as he tried to catch his breath, keeping silent as he could hear the monster on the floor above. 

It was dark for a moment, his eyes not yet used to the new environment. He ducked, made himself as flat as possible as he could hear its heavy steps approaching the hole he had just fallen through.    
He did not dare to breathe as his chest barely heaved against the soft surface beneath him.   
  


_...Soft? _

His blood turned cold as he realized what it most likely was that he had landed on. The sound of shattering wood from the impact finally making sense.   
  
_...a… corpse?  _

One wave of shock was chased by another. He wasn’t sure if time had stopped or if it went too fast for him to notice but the moment he realized that thing was gone, Cloud sat back up. His eyes had finally adjusted to the dark and he was faced with the cold body of someone who had been lost a long time ago. If it wasn’t for his still chest and the lack of heartbeat, Cloud would’ve thought he was merely sleeping. Not a single sign of decay or rot. 

However, he could make out the coffin he was put in to rest, felt the cushioned sides against his legs as he found himself to sit atop of the man. 

Pale and soft, a porcelain face framed by a mess of raven hair. 

Cloud had no idea why he didn’t move, something kept him from it. Drawing him in, caught in the lure of fascination as his heartbeat stilled.

He remembered the stories, girls and mothers, even fathers and sons, talking about creatures beyond belief living in the mansion.   
The one that had stuck with him the most?    
The story of a vampire.    
  
It couldn’t be… Could it?   
  
Cloud knew that it wasn’t the smartest decision to stay. Giving into his curiosity as one of his hands reached out for the stranger’s face. 

He looked pained?

Troubled. 

Upon the touch of skin to skin, Cloud almost winced his hand back as crimson eyes opened to look at him. Pierce right through him. 

A hand in his neck drew him in, pushed down against a cold and empty chest. He could not scream. Couldn’t cry out for his mother.    
There… was no need to?   
The hand in the back of his neck kept him firmly pressed close as heavy steps above them approached once more. Another cry of that creature, desperate for food and blood. His body winced in reaction, the grip from his neck wandering up to his head. A soothing hand brushing through his hair.

‘’Hush.’’    
  
A voice, as low as the rumble of faraway thunder on a humid summer night. Warm and soft as red velvet against his skin. He swore, he could feel his cheeks grow warm for a moment.

The heavy steps passed by, drowning out in the distance as the monster left. 

The pressure on him eased and yet, he kept his head low, pressed against the stranger’s chest. He’d melt right into it if he could. 

‘’This is no place for you.’’

Cloud bolted up from his place on the other’s chest. His spikes standing high in alert as he came back to his senses.    
  
‘’I-I-...’’

He wasn’t one to stutter usually, was he?

‘’Can you stand?’’ 

He didn’t quite realize the meaning of the question until he noticed that the man had picked him up, about to put him onto his own two feet. 

A nod. 

Another nod.    
A silent agreement.    
The man was the next one to get up, his body moving with ease as if he had just woken up from a small afternoon nap. 

The cocking sound of a gun moved Cloud’s attention from the man’s odd appearance to what he had just grabbed from a holster around his thigh. 

‘’Let’s get you out of here.’’ 

Although his voice was distant, it felt a lot closer.

The man navigated through the darkness with ease, guiding the boy with a shimmering hint of red in his gaze. 

He let him stay close as they walked through the darkness, judging from the smell, the basement. He let him stay even closer as they reached the floor from which Cloud came crashing. The blonde would never show such weakness in front of someone else from their town. He’d die in shame, clinging to someone else’s leg like that.    
The sounds of the monster approaching again though drove any last drop of bravery out of him. 

However, the next events unfolded rather quickly... Two shots, loud as hell, rang through the air before the heavy body of the creature dropped to the ground in front of him.    
That heavy entrance door seemed to swing open with ease as the stranger pushed it open. As if it never had been locked. 

He shielded his eyes with his arm as they stepped outside, pulling that tattered and torn coat over the boy’s small frame as well.    
  


...of course he was no vampire…

Cloud almost huffed at himself for wasting a thought on such nonsense.    
A gust of wind brought him back to the here and now, the red cloth unfurling from him as he felt a hand in his back slowly push him forwards. 

‘’From here on out it’s on you. Get lo-’’   
  
Cloud ran. Broke into a sprint through the thicket of the overgrown garden. 

Adrenaline shot through his body, gave him that one last push he needed to escape this whole fever dream. 

He took one last moment to turn around and face the mansion that had already grown smaller from the distance he had put between himself and that building.    
No trace of a man.    
The gates closed, the doors probably shut tight as if they never had been opened. 

He caught his breath as he looked at the mansion, sitting in the bright light of a dying dawn. 

The fog still hung in the field he was standing in, his pants already wet from all the dew. 

His voice broke the silence around him, causing birds to scatter up into the air before he’d turn around and run back home with yet another secret just for himself.

He’d need another couple hours of sleep after all of this...   
  


  
_ ‘’Thank you!’’  _

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> with this started... i should probably get working on all those abandoned wips i have


End file.
